Hobsons Bay council has been accused of using an Altona Scout camp as a dumping ground.
For at least the last five years, an area that used to serve as the entrance to the Pines Scout Camp, has instead been used as the entrance for trucks coming in to dump mulch, timber, blue stone rocks and various other building materials used by council.
While the campsite is leased to Scouts Australia, the Crown Land it sits on is managed by Hobsons Bay council, allowing it to dump material there, which Daryl Gresty said had been going on since before he took over as camp co-ordinator in 2020.
But despite a recent clean up of the site, Mr Gresty has had enough and wants council to store its material elsewhere.
“It’s a safety hazard” Mr Gresty said.
He said trucks being driven onto the site while camps were in progress was another problem, with one council worker last year found in toilets using abusive language with children nearby.
However, Mr Gresty said the main problem caused by the dumping was what it prevented them from doing.
“We could put more activities in place and have more camping here for the kids,” he said.
A lack of space is also Hobsons Bay council’s argument for continuing to use the camp as a storage site.
“The operational space is vital for council to service all the surrounds and the lease map can be amended to reflect this,” a council officer told Mr Gresty last year in correspondence seen by Star Weekly.
However, a more recent statement from council suggests change might be afoot.
“Council is reviewing its storage needs to reduce space requirements for this practice to allow greater space for use by the Scout Association,” a council spokesperson told Star Weekly, adding that Hobsons Bay could continue to work with the Scouts to manage the site and ensure camp operations were not affected.
“Concerns previously raised regarding contractor behaviour on site were taken seriously and addressed immediately.”
